| Abstract Detail
Molecular Ecology and Evolution Ramsay, Heather [1], Ritland, Kermit [2], Rieseberg, Loren H. [3]. Explaining Evolutionary Rate Variation in Metabolic Pathways in Plants. Because higher pleiotropy results in lower evolutionary rates, genes upstream in metabolic pathways should evolve more slowly than genes downstream. However, few clear examples of this trend exist in the literature. This may be because studies published to date report a correlation of evolutionary rate and pathway position, which may not capture the relationship of pleiotropy and pathway structure in pathways that are not highly branched. Also, studies to published to date have not controlled for the number of gene duplicates, which may distort the pattern of evolutionary rates expected among members of a metabolic pathway. Using a pleiotropy index based on pathway structure, I am seeking to explain variation in evolutionary rates among genes involved in steroid, terpenoid, brassinosteroid and carotenoid synthesis. Data is drawn from the five fully-sequenced angiosperms (Arabidopsis, Ricinus, Populus, Vitis and Oryza), which allows for determining the number of recent gene duplicates in each species. Log in to add this item to your schedule
1 - University of British Columbia, Genetics Graduate Program, #1220 -- 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6K 1K5, Canada 2 - University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada 3 - Univeristy of British Columbia, Botany, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
Keywords: metabolic pathway molecular evolution evolutionary rates pleiotropy.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics Session: P Location: Ball Room & Party Room/SUB Date: Monday, July 28th, 2008 Time: 12:30 PM Number: PME002 Abstract ID:243 |